A few changes this week saw Josh Hewitt make his first start this season and Harry Holman the younger take over the No.10 duties and whilst neither got on the scoresheet, they were both influential in the game.

The home side started the livelier of the two sides and with less than 5 minutes gone it was the ubiquitous No. 9 David Hale who spied a gap and made 40 metres before being pulled down 7 metres short. The defence infringed to slow the release and Kyle Lemon gave Hertford a 3-0 lead.

Young Hale should be nicknamed ‘The Thrush’ by most opposition this season as he is a constant irritation! And indeed after 15 mins he got himself on the scoreboard after a well worked back row move and interpassing with Kinsley and Drew saw him dot down in the corner. The strong wind saw the kick drift wide. 8-0

The 8 point lead was short lived however as Sudbury pounced on some sloppy handling to score under the posts. 8-7 18 mins.

The next fifteen mins was peppered with mistakes by Hertford. They were giving the ball up too cheaply with poor passes and dropped catches, gifting Sudbury with possession that they twice capitalised on well to add two converted ties to their total before half time.

However, between the two Sudbury offerings, Hertfords adventure paid off when a superb kick to the corner from a penalty ending with what used to be a Hertford staple that has been in short supply this year, the catch and drive try. A good take by the rangy Swift, controlled well by the pack saw arch poacher ‘Chubbs’ Basra complete the honours. A good conversion from Lemon followed.

The Hale Holman partnership provides a high tempo game that took the rest of the team time to adjust too and resulted initially in some inaccuracies and spills but as the game progressed it certainly helped to provide the backline with those two valuable commodities, time and space.

Halftime score. 13 -24

Despite going to the break 11 points adrift there was a positive feel around the park that with the way we were playing and with the advantage of the elements the game was still there for the taking.

The mysteries of the half time talk are unknown, was it an arm round the shoulder or was it the hairdryer? Well none of the coaches have any personal need for a hairdryer but whatever the content, it did the trick.

With the half just two minutes old, centre, Harry Cavlan, drifted through a gap and made good ground before fixing the fullback and putting the supporting Gadsby away to gallop in. Lemon was good for the extras. 20-24.

With both sides trying to be adventurous there were going to opportunities and it was the grafting Josh Rudling who was the beneficiary. A well timed pass from Holman put Rudds through a half gap and his power did the rest as he raced away to score. Lemon had an easy kick to give the home side the lead again. 27-24.

Sustained pressure lead to another Rudling try and capped his very industrious MoTM performance. Lemon extended the lead with the conversion. 34-24.

The home side continued the pressure and although the Sudbury backline had some very good elements, Hertfords defence was a match for them and in the last quarter they rarely troubled the Hertford half.

The last two Hertford scores were penalties from lemon that were the correct choice as they extended the lead to 3 scores.

Final score 40-24

The home win means Hertford leapfrog Medway to move off of the bottom slot. This was a much better performance in terms of finishing which has been our weakness for much of this season. We have been creating the opportunities but falling at the last hurdle.

There is still work to do on accuracy as the top sides in the league will punish those mistakes but all in all, it was a good day at the office.

Lemons boot was invaluable from the tee and both he and Holman used the boot to good effect in open play when necessary, utilising the elements but also gaining good ground against them.

The Extra 1st’XV had a convincing 60-14 victory whilst the Termites narrowly lost out to Berkamsted in the dying minutes by 19-17.

Next week we travel to 4th place Tunbridge Wells and the following week we welcome our friends from 2nd place Tring. Your support will be gratefully appreciated and…………. Who knows…….